Name: zatul 's review of The Weight of Our Sky by Hanna Alkaf
Item: The Weight of Our Sky
Rating: 5
Author: zatul

Hanna Alkaf

A music loving teen with OCD does everything she can to find her way back to her mother during the historic race riots in 1969 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in this heart-pounding, “stunning” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) debut. Melati Ahmad looks like your typical movie-going, Beatles-obsessed sixteen-year-old. Unlike most other sixteen-year-olds though, Mel also believes that she harbors a djinn inside her, one who threatens her with horrific images of her mother’s death unless she adheres to an elaborate ritual of counting and tapping to keep him satisfied. A trip to the movies after school turns into a nightmare when the city erupts into violent race riots between the Chinese and the Malay. When gangsters come into the theater and hold movie-goers hostage, Mel, a Malay, is saved by a Chinese woman, but has to leave her best friend behind to die. On their journey through town, Mel sees for herself the devastation caused by the riots. In her village, a neighbor tells her that her mother, a nurse, was called in to help with the many bodies piling up at the hospital. Mel must survive on her own, with the help of a few kind strangers, until she finds her mother. But the djinn in her mind threatens her ability to cope.

The Weight of Our Sky

A music loving teen with OCD does everything she can to find her way back to her mother during the historic race riots in 1969 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in this heart-pounding literary debut. Melati Ahmad looks like your typical movie-going, Beatles-obsessed sixteen-year-old. Unlike most other sixteen-year-olds though, Mel also believes that she harbors a djinn inside her, one who threatens her with horrific images of her mother’s death unless she adheres to an elaborate ritual of counting and tapping to keep him satisfied. A trip to the movies after school turns into a nightmare when the city erupts into violent race riots between the Chinese and the Malay. When gangsters come into the theater and hold movie-goers hostage, Mel, a Malay, is saved by a Chinese woman, but has to leave her best friend behind to die. On their journey through town, Mel sees for herself the devastation caused by the riots. In her village, a neighbor tells her that her mother, a nurse, was called in to help with the many bodies piling up at the hospital. Mel must survive on her own, with the help of a few kind strangers, until she finds her mother. But the djinn in her mind threatens her ability to cope.

Haley

Auntie Bee regards him through narrowed eyes for a minute, then decides to let it go. "Did you eat?"

Vincent snorts. “We're in the middle of a riot and you can still ask me if I ate?"

"Yes, Ma, I ate!" His head is turned away so I can't see it, but I can feel the eye roll even from the back seat.

 I am both mesmerized by this little gesture of faith and jealous of her intimate relationship God. It always bothers me that I can't seem to connect with Him the way people like Auntie Bee and Mama can. The way I used to.

I adore coming-of-age fictions, especially when there’s a touch of religious aspect in it.

Sashi

I’m sure God exists, I’m just not sure He likes me very much.

And for a moment I am struck by how strange it is to proclaim the greatness of God, a phrase we say over and over again in prayer five times a day, while doing their best to destroy His creations.

zatul 

A historical fiction about the 13 May incident of Kuala Lumpur through the experiences of Melati, a schoolgirl with undiagnosed obsessive-compulsive disorder. 

Lindy

I loved this book. It shed so much light on OCD and anxiety entwined with the conditions of the 13th of May incident in Malaysia. It was nice to read a book set in KL and it was written beautifully

mala

the weight of our sky is one of my best read. i came to read this without further research and did not expect anything, but, oh god i was wrong. i appreciate the way this book covered both representation of mental disorder—obsessive compulsive disorder—and racial issues in historical setting. it's one fun and tense read, so, five stars! 

p.s. please pay attention to the trigger warning(s) first

Sarah Sammis

Read it while listening to the Beatles — especially Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Band. It's intense. It will repeatedly hit you in the gut. But given the circumstances, it has a happy ending.

http://pussreboots.com/blog/2019/comm...

faye

This was such an interesting ride to read. From the theme that revolves around the 1969 riots in Malaysia, to mental illness and even religion. Indeed, back then topics relating to mental health was considered as a taboo and in this case, possessed by Djinns. I could say the writing style is very honest; without any sugarcoats yet bold and it drives the curiosity in me everytime i turn the pages, especially the scenes where Melati is yet again trapped in her thoughts because of the OCD that's stigmatized as a possession by a Djinn. It is heartbreaking, but it is true. It does happen.

And it was such a ride with the violence and action because, well, it's a riot anyway. Though with all the suspense like the situation with Melati's mother or Melati's bestfriend, it still gives hope, that after all, at the end, no matter what their identities is they are all one. And in the midst of cruelty there are still light and kindness (like the little family she found later on) and of course, love. A story full of scars but in some way there are always ways to mend it.

The only book that was able to make me feel anxious throughout the whole journey. I’m not a person with OCD, but this book opened my eyes about the disorder itself, and how exhausting it must be to have such thoughts like what Melati had in her head. I think this was the first time I actually tried to broaden my reading preference by picking out a book written by a Malaysian author, and it is safe to say that I did not regret picking this book up.

nindy

mighty dragon 

it was... one hell of a ride. too many emotions. so much frustration. i'm glad things ended nicely for mel.

2.75 stars because 2.5 seems like a too low star to give this book but 3 star seems like its too high. 

I enjoyed the representation of the Malaysian riots, OCD and the language. I related so much to this book as I am a Singaporean so I understood the racial struggles that this book brings to light and sadly, we still face the same problems currently, so I am hoping that things will change soon. 

However, it was quite apparent that this book was a debut novel as the characters' development were said rather than shown. I did not relate too much with the characters, maybe the reason is because this is a ya book and I rarely read YA books. I found too much plot holes in the book as well that made me go ??? I did not like the way OCD was represented in this book, however, I understood the idea of it as it was supposed to be in the year of 1969 and therefore, the idealogies of mental health is not as updated as we have currently. Lastly, the ending of the book felt too rush, and it didn't make sense on how the book ended but eh. 

Overall, I believe that this book is still an important book to read if you want to read about the malaysian riots and understand malaysia's culture more.

This was a very intense read about the 1969 race riots in Kuala Lumpur following a contentious election. Maleti is at a movie with her friend when the riots begin and is lucky to get help to a safe place. But with a 24 hour curfew in place and phone lines down, Maleti has no idea where her mother is or if she's safe. And to make everything more fraught, Maleti's OCD (which she thinks is a djinn inhabiting her body) often leaves her paralyzed with indecision and fear, imaging her mother's death in a million gruesome ways. Safely surviving the week and finding her mother is a herculean task that takes every bit of courage and determination Maleti has. 

I'm not familiar with any bit of Malaysian history, let alone with the events surrounding this particular riot, so I definitely went in blind as to how long it lasted or what the extent and nature of the riot might look like in fictional form. That said, I felt like we were given enough information to understand what was going on without losing sight of Maleti's individual story. I'm definitely interested in learning about this time and place in history when I get a chance because I love having as much historical context about books like this as possible but Alkaf provided enough information that I wasn't lost. 
(Though, not gonna lie, there was more than one moment where I found myself wondering what language they were speaking. The book was written in English, but what language would the characters have been speaking regularly? There were a number of moments where they referenced Malay words like that wasn't what they were speaking and there were a lot of puns that I'd imagine would only work in English. I might be the only person who fixates on stuff like that though.)

I think this was also the first fictional representation of OCD I've read as well. I've known for years how trivializing it is to talk about a person's quirks as OCD tendencies when those quirks don't come anywhere close to being as invasive and compelling as true OCD. But reading of Maleti's struggle with her OCD following her father's death and her bone-deep fear that her mother was going to die as well if she didn't follow the right rituals was gut-wrenching. 

This book was yet another reminder for me that fiction is one of the most powerful means that we have of making other people truly empathize with the reality of our situations because cold hard facts can't cut to the quick in the same way. It's one thing to read an definition of OCD like "Obsessive–compulsive disorder is a mental disorder where people feel the need to check things repeatedly, perform certain routines repeatedly, or have certain thoughts repeatedly. People are unable to control either the thoughts or the activities for more than a short period of time" and quite another to read Maleti's thoughts and actions as she struggles with her OCD. Alkaf has given us an absolute gem in this book that I can't recommend highly enough.

Toni Turner

This was hard to get through but I’m glad I did. I don’t like to read sad books & I usually stay far away from them but every once in a while one pops up on my radar that I know I need to read. This story fit the bill for a while.
I’m really really lucky that I don’t suffer from serious ocd. I have my moments, but reading though Mel’s constant counting was a lot. I needed to read it but damn. Hanna is totally on my author radar forever now though. Wow so many radars today.

Jen Estrella

Me during the time that I was reading this book -

Becca Futrell

this isn’t an easy book to digest but it’s definitely a must read

Kate

4.75* A beautifully put together story of a young girls desperate journey to reunite with her mother, despite the riots in the streets and the one in her mind. 

There was an air of tension hovering over each sentence in this book and an urgency that made me anxious with every page I turned. I thought the candid, raw approach to Melati’s OCD and anxiety was fantastic. It brilliantly explored how debilitating and isolating mental illness can be at times, whilst also being hopeful, showing that having a mental illness doesn’t define you, nor does it prevent you from having an incredible amount of strength and bravery. 

Despite going through so much in such a short amount of time, I loved the way Alkaf managed to make Melati and the way she reacted to the situation she found herself in, feel incredibly genuine. 

Shamefully, I knew next to nothing about the 1969 Malaysian race riots prior to reading this book and while this book inspired me to do further reading of the event, I was awed by the way in which Alkaf depicted them. It was a brilliantly balanced illustration of the events that gave enough information for someone who knew nothing about them to easily follow the story, as well as learning about this important historic event. 

Another aspect I absolutely adored? The trigger warnings in the authors note at the begging. It’s so simple and easy to do but can make a world of difference to readers. And to authors adamantly against trigger warnings, it didn’t spoil anything and made me appreciate the book and author ever more. 

Personally, I felt the ending was a little rushed and despite liking the way it concluded, I wish it had been expanded on a little further. However, I think the fact that the only criticism I have of this book basically comes down to ‘I didn’t want it to end’, I think it’s safe to say I thought this book was superb. 

If you’re looking for a beautifully written story featuring wonderful characters, strong relationships and a plot that will have your heart pumping from start to finish, The Weight of Our Sky is a must read.

TW: OCD, ableist language, ableism, racism, panic attacks, anxiety

zatul &
The Weight of Our Sky by Hanna Alkaf

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zatul &The Weight of Our Sky by Hanna Alkaf

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